Brake for mining-machine trucks.



E. L. HOPKINS. BRAKE FOR MINING MACHINE TRUCKS.

Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

//V [/5 IV TOR A TTORIVEY Wtnes ses L7 Jq/ EDWARD L. HOPKINS, or CQLUMBUS, OHIO, A-ssIenOn TO THE JEFFREY MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, 01110. A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

' BRAKE FOR MIN'ING-MAGHINE TRUCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

Application filed. June 30, 1915. Serial NO. 37,331.

To all whom it may concern.

lowing is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanylng drawlng.

This invention relates to a brake mechanism peculiarly designed for use on the loW trucks which are used in coal mines for transporting mining or kerf cutting machines from one part of a mine to another.

As is well known, all machinery used in coal mines must be arrangedas compactly as possible, as the available open room or space formed in excavating the coal is, re-

in these spaces must have their parts all brought as closely together as possible.

The coal undercutting machines have, in

later years, come to be very heavy and more or lesscumberso-me. After performing their special work in one part of a mine, they must be loaded on trucks with low platforms on small wheels and taken to other parts, the trucks being fitted to the tracks that are laid in narrow entries and the rooms with low roofs, and being specially built for the transportation of these heavy machines.

They cannot have more than a few parts, and must be without pro ect ons.

.The mining machines are dragged. or

pushed from the truck, and later, are? dragged back upon them, and during these movements require application of bars and tools at their ends and along their sides.

With all of these adverse conditions it has been found practically impossible to provide these trucks with any of the ordinary means for braking and controlling the track wheels and the axles, as they are always charact'erize'dby the presence of'large rotary devices, such as brake drums or cumbersome projecting brake shoe mechanisms and,

track wheels are power driven) the trucks often get beyond control of the operative and accidents consequently happen.

The object of the present invention is to provide one of these low, specially constructed, mining machine trucks with a brake device which will have no metallic or wooden parts of any of the ordinary sorts that are subject to breakage; can be applied to one of the low axles in such way that there will be no vertical or horizontal projections; will, as an entirety, be practically entirely out of the way when the mining machine is being loaded upon, or removed from, the truck; will'comprise parts that are inexpensive and available at all ordinary places; will not require work in the shop or skilled labor for adjusting it, stricted both vertically and horizontally,- and the machines that are to be manipulated or any specially made parts to be replaced in case, of the wearing out ofthe one in use, but can be immediately fixed properly at any place in the mine by any unskilled operative; and yet will be effective in controlling the movements of the truck and its heavy load under all the ordinary circumstances in the mine.

Figure 1 is a planview of a mining machine truck equipped with my brake mech anism;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the truck,

some of the parts beingbroken away, and showing conventionally, by dotted lines, the position of a mining machine when in place thereon;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of some of the parts. ,7

While the parts constituting more particularly thepresent invention may be applied to trucks of modified form, I have, in the drawings, illustrated one which is typical of thosenow universally employed in coal mines for the transporting of mining machines.

It is constructed with a frame having longitudinal angle bars 1 joined together by the cross bars or girts, as at 2 and 3. It has a forwardly extending skid frametto guide and support the cutting machine when it is being brought to, or taken from, the truck. 5 are the axle boxes fastened to the bars 1, and in these are jQIlIDaled the axles 6 and 7. 8, 8 are the small flanged truck wheels rigidly fastened to the axles 6 and 7, and fitted to the rails 9 of the tracks in the mine entries and rooms.

off.

The axles 6 and 7 are elevated but a few inches above the track, and the bottom of the truck body is disposed in low planes as close to the'axle as it can be'brought, for it is a matter of considerablelabor to. get the mining machine (some weighing several thousand pounds) up, even to a low horizontal plane, on the truck, and in many places the top of the mining machine is close to the roof when loaded.

lVhen the cutting machine is to be loaded it must be moved over the surface of the latter has component parts or attachmentsalong its sides which overhang the side rails 10f the truck and do not allow any vertical projections to be present on the latter. And it is frequently necessary to apply, along the side of the truck or themachine, bars or tools, to assist in bringing the machineto proper position.- The spool or drum 20 is mounted on a shaft 16 which is in turn mounted (in bearings 17, 18) on a low horizontal line, as near the bottom as possible, and at the rear end of the truck; The motor 28 of the mining machine,- through chain 26,-sprocket wheels 27 and 19,: chain 14, and sprockets-15 and 13, transmits power to the axle 6, and the latter, through chain 12 and sprockets 10 and 11, drives axle 7 The power transmittingdevices are arranged compactly and as close as possible to the sides of the truck to avoid the presence of lateral projections, for the passageways in many parts of the mines (as in the necks to the rooms and the narrow entries) are-horizontally restricted by the walls of coal.

The motor28 is disconnected by clutch 31 from the cutting apparatus and connected to the aforesaid truck driving devices.

The partsthus far described have no pro vision for controlling the truck wheels or axle except by switching the. motor on or Andit willbe seen that, as above described, none-of the ordinary brake devices can be applied, for the numerous mechanical parts in such brakes, as levers, links, brakeshoes, and the like, are prohibited.

My'braking and controlling device consists of a rope having the strands 2a and 25," the intermediate coils23 (of a suitable I number) wrapped around one of the axles 6, and'the end parts 2%, 25 secured to a stationary holder on the truck. The strands I 24, 25 pass over the spool or drum 20 and their ends 2 k, 25 are passed through slots or apertures in the cross girt or bar 29 and tied or knotted. The total length of the rope is such that there will normally be a small amount of slack. The slack can be predetermined so that neither part of the rope will drag upon the ground, but'both parts can droop';sufficiently to permit the rear end of the cutting machine to be brought well back toward the re'ar end of the truck without pressing against the rope.

As -will be seen from the drawings, the truck is constructed tohave an. opening or passage behind, and relatively close to, one ofthe axles, and also behind the rear vertical lines of the mining machine and the slack portions'of the-rope a-re'carried upward through this passageway, and then over the devices at 20, the latter serving as a holder to sustain the end-portionsof the rope and bring them where either,- independently-ofth'e other, can be grasped by the operators hand.

When the operator desires toexert abraking eifort on the axles and track wheels, he grasps-one of the strands 24, 25 at,apoint above-or in front of the-spools=20 and applies sufiicient tension to cause the coils 23 to grip the axle'and retard rotation. He grasps the end of the rope 25 when he desires to brakeor-ch'eckthe car,- if it is-moving toward the right :(as shown in the drawings),= for-the near end of the rope coil is then tendingto unwind; and, vice versa, he grasps tlie rope 24- if he'desiresto check the car whenmoving toward the left. In either casethe crossbar 29 of the truck frame serves as the stationary abutment for the braking effort.

The-weight of the rope on the axle is practically nothing, and consequently there will be but little-wear on the axle in turning loose inthe coil. But should \vearoc cur or should the ropebreak, or should it befound necessaryto increase the number of coils, it-is a simple matter for the operator to efiect repair, or substitute anew brake, or lengthen the coil part, even though this is to bedone-in the depths of themine, and can be accomplished without the necessity of takingthe truck to the machine shop, orany demand forskilledlabor.- Even thoughthe rope should, at the sagging part, contact with the ground or with the track ties, it is immaterial, as no positive obstructions are presented, as impediments or cause of breakage.-

VVhat I claim is: i

The herein-described brake for a mining machine-truck mounted upon relatively low axles and constructed to have a vertically open space behind one of said axles and behind the mining machine when in position, comprising a flexible rope having both ends the axle and having both end portionsn0r mally slack between the fixed fastening points and the axle, and a sustaining de- Vice for the slack portions of the rope Which cause it to extend upward through the said 7 opening Where it is exposed to have either end independently of the other manually Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the" Commissioner of Patents, 7

grasped to cause tension to be exerted on the fixed frame attachment point by the coils .on the axle.

In testimony whereof, I afix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

EDWARD L. HOPKINS."

Witnesses:

HARRY G. DEAN, DUDLEY T. FISHER.

Washington, D. G. 

